However, while Poland may be Europe's most coal-dependent economy with roughly 70% of electricity coming from coal, it is far from being Europe's only economy with a vested interest in extending the life of its power plants.
HEAVY USERSGermany has the highest number of coal plants in Europe, with 53 facilities listed as participating in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS), data from Ember shows.
Poland is also home to the Belchatow Power Station, which is by far Europe's largest thermal coal plant, which alone spewed out over 35 million tonnes of CO2 in 2022.
Czechia, formerly the Czech Republic, has 19 coal-fired plants in the EU ETS which emitted a collective 34 million tonnes of CO2 in 2022.
Share of electricity from coal in select European countriesBulgaria, which depended on coal for 42% of electricity last year, has five plants in the EU ETS which emitted 23.8 million tonnes last year.
Persons:
Ember, Belchatow, Gavin Maguire, Sonali Paul
Organizations:
Union, European Union, EU, Trading, ETS, EU ETS, World Bank, Belchatow, Southern, Global Energy Monitor, Western, Reuters, Thomson
Locations:
LITTLETON , Colorado, Ukraine, Poland, Germany, Netherlands, Romania, Turkey, Czechia, Greece, Europe, Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Slovenia, Italy